Why/how did you get started in track and field?

What’s your favourite spot to be in for the relay?
I like everything. If I’m in great shape, especially in the 4×400, you can run me anywhere. I really enjoy running the final leg ‘cause the pressure’s on. This year we kind of loaded the relay in the middle and towards the end, so we had all our strong legs that we ran all year go back to back-to-back. The guy we ran first, Brandon, at nationals had a great first leg. He didn’t even run on our team all year. In the shorter relays though I like to come out of the blocks, because we like to get the lead and maintain the lead.

What goes through your head as you’re waiting for the pistol?
You want nothing to be going through your head. It’s kind of one of those things when the gun goes you want your mind to be so clear that you don’t hear the gun, you’ve already reacted to the gun before you can even feel like you’ve processed that information. I remember when I was kid I got that nervous feeling [thinking] “am I going to do this? Am I going to screw this up?” As I’ve gotten older though I’m way more relaxed and if I’m prepared I’m excited to do it and there’s no real worry in it. But I look back and I almost wish that I could get that feeling that I had when I was kid. You think you hate it at the time, but the days that I get that now, I know it’s going to be a good day.

What are the perks of being a track and field athlete?
Where to start. The first thing every guy is thinking is the girls. You’re around great people. Another good thing is you get general fitness. Track and field athletes are generally the most fit athletes that you’re going to find. You can’t really compete unless you’re at the utmost, physical competitiveness. Track isn’t a team sport like ball games – which I love just the same – but it’s different in the sense that it’s just you and the facility you run in, or on the track it’s you versus yourself. They line up eight people in a race, but no one can cross into my lane and change what I do. That’s one of the big things that I like about track is that when I finish, positive or negative, the only person I can turn to say “what happened” or “congratulations” is myself and my coaches – there’s nobody else at fault really.

What was it like being on the same team as [former Mustang track and football athlete] Randy McAuley?
Randy McAuley is actually one of my best friends. We’re actually going out for a St. Patty’s day drink right after this. Randy started as a bit of a mentor to me — I was a bit of a wild goose in first-year. No one really knew how to handle me, and me and Randy just clicked right away – same personality, same interests, pretty much the same dude except one is a skinny white guy and one is a big muscular black dude. It was great. Randy can get around the track, get around the football field and get around downtown London better than anybody, so it was definitely a great few years with him.

Any crazy travelling stories?
I remember in my first year when we stayed over in Saskatchewan, at four in the morning me and another guy got hungry so we went down to the ATM, but for whatever reason we were just in our underwear. One of the other teams was actually waiting for a flight out in the lobby, and they ended up seeing us and taking pictures of these two dudes at the ATM at four in the morning, getting money out and it kind of created a scandal. Things went up on Facebook, and it was like “what were these guys doing, naked getting $100 out of the ATM at four in the morning?” There are endless stories and I can’t even say most of them. I’ve grown up a lot and kind of gotten away from that; I don’t party as hard anymore.

If you could be the best at any event, what would it be?
When I first started I could’ve done anything – well, I don’t think I’d be a great shot-putter – and I chose to do what I did ‘cause I wanted to be where everyone was watching, so I ran the 100m. And looking at me you’d probably say, “well I don’t think you made the right choice” and I’ve gotten that my entire career, but I’ve always just kind of striven to prove everybody wrong.

How do you stay in shape during the off-season?
I had major injury problems so I actually missed seasons at a time, so I did have a long off-season for a while. Ideally I would transition about a week after CIS championships and I would already be doing prep for outdoors, hoping to run again in May. This past summer I made the Canadian team and we were supposed to run into September, and I ended up getting hurt, so I missed that but I was training through September and then come October you’re already back in the university season. The off-season at most is probably going to be September for me, maybe a bit of August. I normally relax a lot actually – try to hit up the beach, just normal people stuff.

Has your sprinting ever come in handy in real life?
I haven’t committed any crimes recently that would need me to be running from the police. If you commit a crime as a sprinter you’re going to be pretty hard to catch, but I haven’t been doing that lately. I actually raced a guy in downtown London for 10 bucks, but that was years ago. It was just a random occurrence on the street.

What’s your favourite bar in London?
I don’t want to say anything run of the mill here … put in the Richmond Tavern.

Great for me because I called that the Argos would sign a Canadian QB here.

But somewhat more importantly, it’s great for the growth of the game in Canada and the emergence of Canadian Interuniversity Sport competition as a true proving ground for future pros. Nine of the top 15 CFL prospects as ranked by the CFL’s Amateur Scouting Bureau ply their trade in the CIS. That includes four from the OUA.

A host of other CIS players also made names for themselves at the CFL’s evaluation camp this weekend, including Bishop’s wide receivers Steven Turner and Sean Gore, Laurier running back Mike Montoya and Concordia defensive lineman Chima Ihekwoaba.

The Western Mustangs also had three players at the camp, offensive lineman Josh Buttrill, defensive lineman Chris Greaves and linebacker Conor Elliott. You can read my article with comments from the trio here.

Brannagan’s signing is by far the biggest news to come out of the evaluation camp this past weekend.

The Burlington native was very impressive, bench pressing more than some of the linemen and running a faster 40-yard dash than some of the running backs. He’s clearly stepped up his conditioning since the Vanier Cup and several onlookers thought he was throwing the hardest passes at the camp.

Add that to Brannagan’s proven ability to play well in high pressure situations — this year’s Yates Cup, Mitchell Bowl and Vanier Cup are excellent resume points — and you have a nice looking quarterback. It’s no surprise the Argos wanted to lock him up as soon as possible, not even waiting 24 hours after the evaluation camp wrapped to sign him.

Brace yourselves for a wave of human interest stories heavy on Canadian pride coming from our nation’s news outlets during training camp. Our media loves nothing more than a feel good story about a Canadian kid making it in the big leagues against all odds.

But even Greaves was blown away this weekend when he saw Washington State offensive lineman Joe Eppele at the Canadian Football League’s annual evaluation camp in Toronto.

“That guy is a monster — an absolute monster,” Greaves said of the six foot eight, 306-pounder. “The guy is 300 lbs and he has abs. I didn’t even know that was possible.”

Greaves was one of three Mustangs who were measured up against Eppele and the nation’s other highest ranked football players at the CFL’s annual combine, spanning two days of drills, interviews and fitness tests before representatives from the CFL’s eight teams.

Joining Greaves were Mustangs linebacker Conor Elliott and offensive lineman Josh Buttrill, who will hope to hear their names called on CFL draft day May 2.

“It was a pretty stacked camp in terms of talent,” Greaves said. “It was good to get a gauge of what they expect from you and what you have to bring to the table. It gives you a good idea of where you need to be.”

One of the toughest events of the weekend is the team interviews, where the players’ psyches are put to the test. Each team can have an individual session with any player they want and no discussion topic is off limits.

“I heard about one guy who was told by the head coach before the interview even began that he was undersized, so you have to be ready for anything,” Buttrill said. “You have to roll with the punches. You know they’re going to try to throw you off guard and try to get you to stumble so you just have to stay loose and comfortable.”

Elliott spoke to the Edmonton Eskimos, Hamilton Tiger Cats and Montreal Alouettes. Greaves had interviews with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and BC Lions, while Buttrill had sit-downs with the Lions and the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“It was intense. Basically you walk into a room — there’s a circle of six or seven chairs for the scouts and your chair opposite to them. They stick this video camera right in your face and these guys just sit there and drill you with question after question after question,” Elliott said.

“They were asking questions about anything you can think of,” Greaves added. “After a few questions you get past that awkward nervous stage and you just get into it.”

Elliott also received considerable attention for his role on special teams where he serves as a long snapper.
Guelph kicker Rob Maver — who is the seventh ranked prospect by the CFL’s Amateur Scouting Bureau — was in London last week to help Elliott work on his long snapping and prepare for the evaluation camp. For Elliott, working with Maver was invaluable.

“We worked a lot together. It helped me feel really comfortable with him standing behind me for the e-camp snaps,” Elliott said. “I think [training with Maver] worked out in my favour. I ended up doing really well.”

Elliott was the only long snapper at the camp, which gave him the dubious pleasure of going through on-field drills by himself Sunday morning in front of about 60-70 scouts.

“It was a little crazy with so many scouts looking at you. It was kind of nerve wracking,” Elliott said. “But once you get that aspect out of your head you calm down and just go with the flow.”

After Saturday’s highly scrutinized fitness testing, the live drills on Sunday at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Centre gave the players a chance to show what they can do on the field. Although the players were not wearing full padding, no one was letting up in order to impress the scouts from the CFL’s eight teams.

“We only had half pads but everyone was still going pedal to the metal because you have every single scout looking at you,” Elliott said. “You don’t even have time to think about what you just did. Everyone’s moving so fast, you’re hopping back in right after your last rep.”

Elliott went through the paces with the other linebackers at the camp in one-on-one pursuit drills with the running backs and coverage drills with the wide receivers. That meant going up against some of the country’s most highly touted offensive threats like Bishop’s wide receiver Steven Turner and Laurier running back Mike Montoya.

Greaves and Buttrill took part in live pass rushes against some top linemen from both Canada and the U.S., including Washington St.’s Eppele who is ranked 11th on the CFL Amateur Scouting Bureau’s list of top prospects.

“The competition level was pretty high, there [were] a lot of talented guys there,” Greaves said. “I think I did pretty well compared to the rest of the them. I feel like I was one of the best defensive linemen there in terms of pass rushing and drills.”

“It was good to learn how I compared to the other players at my position in the country,” Buttrill added. “Going against a new set of guys was a little different. It’s fun to try to figure them out but it’s hard to win when you’re going against those top guys.”

The only thing left to do for the Mustangs trio is to wait. CFL teams aren’t allowed to communicate with the possible draftees in any way between the evaluation camp and draft day, in order to avoid tampering and to ensure a level playing field.

“Hopefully on draft day I’ll hear my name called,” Elliott said. “It’s going to be a long month and a half, that’s for sure.”

It’s really, really hard to be a Toronto Argonauts fan right now.

The team, still reeling from their latest campaign under an unpopular import coach, boasts an awful 7-29 record over the past two seasons and was recently sold to BC Lions owner David Baley because, well, no one else would take them.

Talk about a team you can get behind.

To make matters worse, up until three days ago there was not a single person listed as a quarterback with the Toronto Argonauts. Not one.

The Argos have been very quiet about their plans at the, um, pivotal position after releasing incumbents Cody Pickett and Kerry Joseph last month.

They settled some of the mystery earlier this week when they traded for the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Dalton Bell and signed former Buffalo Bills pivot Gibran Hamdan. But neither of those two can be considered a lock as the Argo’s number one starter and there still remains one quarterback spot on the Argonaut’s roster. That could leave the door open for one of the highly talented class of quarterbacks coming out of Canadian Interuniversity Sport competition this year.

Queen’s Danny Brannagan, Guelph’s Justin Dunk, Western’s Michael Faulds and Calgary’s Erik Glavic all had stellar campaigns in 2009 and have all garnered some serious interest from Canadian Football League teams.

Toronto has the first pick in the CFL’s entry draft on May 2 and have the most picks overall with 10. Don’t expect the Argos to take a quarterback with their first overall pick — Concordia LB Cory Greenwood or Nevada OL John Bender are the most likely, it says here — but there is a good chance they could be in the market for a Canadian quarterback in one of the later rounds.

Interestingly, this year the CFL made it clear that any Canadian quarterbacks invited to training camp would not count against a team’s training camp roster, which is capped at 75.This means teams can invite as many quarterbacks to camp as they please, as long as they’re Canadian. The league hopes this will level the playing field for Canadian quarterbacks and help them crack a team’s roster by simply having the chance to show their stuff at training camp.

The first test the Canadian quarterbacks will have to pass comes this weekend at the CFL’s annual evaluation camp in Toronto, where they will run through a series of drills and interviews with the CFL’s eight teams.

Unfortunately for Mustangs fans, Faulds — who set a CIS record for passing with 3,033 yards in 2009 — won’t be taking part in the weekend’s festivities. He’s still recovering from a torn ACL he suffered at the end of the Mustangs season and played on throughout the playoffs.

Nevertheless, three other standout CIS quarterbacks will be showing their stuff this weekend:

Danny Brannagan

Brannagan had a phenomenal final season for the Queen’s Gaels, leading the team to its first Yates Cup in more than 30 years and its first Vanier Cup since 1992. Brannagan picked up MVP honours in both those games, although his 515 yard, five touchdown performance against the Mustangs in the Yates Cup was one of the greatest feats by a CIS quarterback in recent memory.

Brannagan is undersized — listed at a generous 6-0 on the Gaels website — which may scare off some teams. However, Brannagan proved time and again with Queen’s that he has no problem operating if he’s given a solid offensive line in front of him. Brannagan’s stellar performances in big games make him an attractive option as well.

Erik Glavic

The University of Calgary’s Glavic is arguably the most talented of the three CIS pivots being looked at this weekend and has the most impressive resume, boasting two Hec Crighton trophies as the top player in the CIS. He threw for 2,186 yards last season and came within two points of winning the first Vanier Cup for Calgary in 15 years. He’ll be the most likely candidate to hear his name called early on draft day.

Glavic doesn’t have the size issue Brannagan does — he’s only 6-foot-6 — and showed he can run the ball well last season, picking up 508 yards on the ground. Glavic has another year of CIS eligibility left and is expected to return to an extraordinarily strong 2010 Calgary team that will bring back every single starter on their offence which scored just under 40 points a game in 2009.

Justin Dunk

Guelph’s Dunk has the steepest hill to climb when it comes to impressing the CFL scouts. He was serviceable for the Gryphons this year, putting up decent numbers— 1,897 yards, 13 TD, 7 INT — but his attitude and temper have been repeatedly questioned over the course of his career. His on field antics this season — remember “fuck western” — didn’t do him any favours.

One of Dunk’s strongest assets is his legs — he piled up 423 rushing yards in 7 games this year and is always a threat to scramble. In fact, Dunk’s athleticism means he can audition as a wide receiver and a quarterback. Dunk has already worked out as a receiver for the BC Lions — hat tip to The Ontarian’s Mike Treadgold for that one — and certainly several teams will be interested in his multi-position versatility.

1. Don’t be fooled by Gary Bettman’s posturing over the NHL’s involvement in the2014 winter Olympic games in Sochi, Russia. The NHL will be there.

2. Bettman, a shrewd negotiator, is well aware of the fact the players want to be at that tournament. And with another session of collective bargaining with the NHLPA quickly approaching — is it almost 2012 already? — the Sochi chip is an important one for Bettman to hold. He’ll use Sochi as a bargaining concession, which will not only save the owners money but also make the players happy.

3. Bettman can’t possibly pull his players from competition in Russia after 26.5 million Canadians and 27.6 million Americans watched the gold medal final Sunday afternoon, according to the CBC. A hockey game in the United States hasn’t been viewed by that many people in more than 30 years — music to the ears of a man whose stated goal since he took the job has been to grow the game in the United States.

4. Events like the Olympics and the NHL’s winter classic appeal to Americans and generate a buzz around hockey that a game between the Florida Panthers and Atlanta Thrashers never can. Americans viewers want a spectacle. They want story lines and characters like the goaltending hero Ryan Miller or the Canadian hometown boy Sidney Crosby. Without considerable production around the sport, it’s too easy for American audiences not to take interest.

5. Let’s give a bit of perspective. The American ratings for Sunday’s Canada-US gold medal game were higher than the ratings for any game of the highly competitive 2009 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies. The ratings were also higher than every NBA finals and NCAA final four broadcast since 1998. How could Bettman ever pass that up?

6. Speaking of the NBA, the Toronto Raptors are learning just how critical Chris Bosh is to their franchise right now, having lost their last four games without the all star forward, including a 116-92 trouncing at the hands of the Houston Rockets Monday night. The Raptors are coming off a relatively easy portion of their schedule where they needed to pick up wins against inferior teams in order to bolster their position in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt.

7. Of course, this is Toronto and things rarely play out the way they should. The Raptors went just .500 over their easy February and now face a March schedule where they play 16 times over 31 days, including 9 games on the road. They’ve already dropped their first game of the month on Monday and if that night’s effort is any indication, without Bosh in the lineup things could get a lot worse before it gets any better.

8. Bryan Colangelo has assembled a nice team — Andrea Bargnani, Jose Calderon, Hedo Turkoglu and even Jarret Jack are all nice complimentary players. Complimentary to Chris Bosh, that is. The team is clearly built around the 6-foot-10 Texan and is at its best when he’s on his game. When Bosh operates down low and draws double teams, it frees up other Raptors with open looks and allows them to put up points.

9. But building the team around Bosh is cause for alarm, especially considering the fact his return to Toronto next year is unlikely at best. Every Toronto fan would love to see the Raptors pull off a playoff upset this spring, convincing Bosh to stick around for a few more seasons to try to build a championship contender. But if the more likely scenario of Bosh bolting for a strong American market materializes, this team will be missing the catalyst that creates good performances from the supporting cast. Replacing that element will be next to impossible.

10. One Toronto team that you can guarantee will be bad are the Blue Jays, who will certainly finish last in the American League East — look out for the much improved Orioles — and could even challenge for last place in the entire league.

11. The loss of Roy Halladay is a reality that probably hasn’t set in for many Jays fans who will watch a different pitcher throw the opening pitch of the Blue Jays season for the first time in seven years.

12. Number 32 is as close to a guaranteed win as you can get in baseball and knowing your team will only have to produce 3 or 4 runs to win every five days is a luxury that was taken for granted in Toronto over Halladay’s 11-year tenure.

13. That said, there are redeemable qualities to this team. Adam Lind and Aaron Hill may regress from their breakout seasons in 2008 but can still be counted on for 25 home runs and 100 RBIs a piece. Travis Snider should finally get regular at bats this season and could challenge for rookie of the year if he finally finds a groove as an everyday player.

14. The Jays pitching staff will be young and many of the team’s green arms will get a chance to prove themselves against some great teams with strong hitters in New York, Boston and Tampa Bay.

15. But past that, there is still Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay weighing down the batting order and placeholders like Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Alex Gonzalez keeping seats warm for the Jays of tomorrow.

16. Jays fans have to be realistic about the team’s chances this year. 75 wins is the ceiling. Fair weather fans who measure progress purely on wins and losses will not be pleased.

Starting Roberto Luongo against the Germans Tuesday night and for the rest of the tournament is the easiest decision head coach Mike Babcock has had to make during these Olympic games. Martin Brodeur looked like an amateur playing against the United States Sunday night and was truly outclassed by his American counterpart Ryan Miller — a goalie seven years his junior.

Was it a surprise? Well, no. The page has been turned on a hockey generation and sadly Brodeur belongs more to the group of Sakic, Gretzky, Tkachuck and Chelios than he does to Crosby, Ovechkin, Kane and Keith. He’s old guard now — something Hockey Canada surely should have known coming into Vancouver.

Wasn’t this supposed to be the tournament where we right the wrongs we committed in 2006? Weren’t we supposed to be going with the new youth movement who are poised to lead Canadian hockey to success in the future instead of the veterans who had brought us success in the past?

Starting Brodeur against the Americans was the wrong move. Granted, that’s easy to say on Monday morning, but would the country truly have been outraged if Luongo got the start Sunday night? Would anyone have questioned Babcock for going with a proven goalie in his prime rather than a well-decorated veteran whose prime status is teetering from late to past?

The only reasons for Babcock to start Brodeur were his solid resume and past experience in the Olympics. But for all the weight that is placed on experience in international tournaments, the 2010 Olympic hockey competition has proven that this is a sport that is played in the now — not the past. Younger, faster, stronger, smarter. That’s the way the game is going. Babcock should have known that. For all his experience, the old dog Brodeur was overmatched by the new tricks of a young, fast, and skilled American team Sunday night.

Like I said, starting Luongo the rest of the way is the easy choice. The tough one? Who to play with Sidney Crosby.

Practically every player on this roster has been penciled in on the wing of the Pittsburgh Penguins captain and none of the combinations have yet to give Canada that dynamic top line they are looking for. An extraordinary top line isn’t necessary to win this tournament, but Babcock’s constant jumbling has shown he’s certainly looking for it.

For what it’s worth, here’s how I would draw it up for Tuesday night’s game versus the Germans:

Toews — Crosby — Iginla

Staal — Getzlaf — Nash

Heatley — Thornton — Marleau

Bergeron — Richards — Morrow

13th forward — Perry

Jonathan Toews is a young, unselfish player who has proven his dexterity for playmaking and a hunger for the net. He knows when to pass and when too shoot, unlike several players on this roster who can’t strike that balance. This team is flush with centres, so moving him to the wing should not be an issue. Him and Crosby are poets with the puck on their stick and should be able to feed off each other’s creativity in the offensive zone.

Jarome Iginla hasn’t been given a fair chance in this tournament. After scoring a hat trick in under ten minutes in his first game, Iginla was immediately banished to checking duty on the third and fourth lines for the games against Switzerland and the US. Some speculated he was hurt, which has been vehemently denied by Hockey Canada brass. Others have questioned his relationship with Babcock and whether that has landed him in his doghouse — a situation that would be extremely uncharacteristic of the unselfish Iginla.

No matter what the reason is for his demotion, Iginla deserves another chance to play with the big boys. He’s proven time and again in a Calgary Flames uniform that he can be in the right place at the right time to score goals, a point he further drove home against Norway in game one. Iginla’s scoring touch would be a great compliment for Toews and Crosby’s playmaking abilities.

Finally, Corey Perry’s tournament has been extremely underwhelming for me which is why he finds himself as my 13th forward. Canada doesn’t have the time to allow him to find his feet.

Meanwhile, Dallas Stars captain Brendan Morrow has been making the most of the few minutes he’s received so far, fore-checking hard, grinding opponents against the boards and defending actively in his own zone. He doesn’t show up on the score sheet too often, but his willingness to do the dirty work is something you won’t find from other members of this team. Plus, having someone on the ice willing to get their hands dirty can often lead to goals — see: Ovechkin’s hit on Jagr in the Russia-Czech game. Morrow has earned more ice time.